When Invitation Knocks

PASTOR BOBBIE HOUSTON

Had someone asked me, when I was a child, if I believed in God, I would have said yes. I had little background, experience, or theology on which to base that answer, but I also had no valid reason to not believe in a higher reality.

My father died suddenly when I was fourteen. I didn’t feel anger; only a deep sense of separation from someone I loved dearly. At night, I would draw back the curtains near my bed and stare at the sky. The stars of the southern hemisphere and the ambience of tranquillity that comes when moonlight reflects off the clouds convinced me that somehow “there must be more.” How could a magnificent human being suddenly cease to be? My father must still exist, perhaps in a realm beyond my comprehension. Surely, one day our paths would cross again.

That hope within my teenage heart triggered a pursuit of the truth inherent in every human soul. I followed a longing that encompassed meaning, reason, purpose, and inclusion. Along the way, I learned that the pursuit of uncompromising truth would never lead me astray. This truth shines light into the deepest recesses of the human experience and affords us what we need for change.

This truth is “divine” in nature. Divine truth facilitates change that is lasting and eternal. It is both humbling and empowering, bearing evidence of itself and producing fruit that facilitates freedom. As the ancient scribes understood, knowing the truth is what sets us free. Truth leads a willing heart into wide open spaces that we never could have imagined.

Truth guides us along a road that ultimately leads us “home.” It extends a holy, divine, and unprejudiced invitation, crossing every divide and transcending every cultural distinction. Truth knocks on the door of the human spirit, waiting ever so patiently because it knows what will take place if we are brave enough to respond.

I encountered this “holy invitation” six months after my father’s passing. Looking at the canopy of the night sky from my bedroom window heightened and aligned my senses. I realized that there was something greater than anything I had known or understood until then. It felt as though an internal compass was guiding me toward what could only be my “true north.” So heightened was the pull of this unseen force, that when I heard the knock, I quickly and easily opened my young heart. There was no need for coercion or convincing. What I encountered was something that multitudes throughout history have experienced– a simple and deep knowing.

Life is a series of doors that we can walk through, or not.

Opportunity, calling, purpose, love, and relationships are all gateways that lead to the expansive and enriched life that calls each of us. Invitation rests on the threshold of choice, and our response to this choice can lead us to new wonder and new worlds. If I can offer you one piece of advice – when you hear the knock, answer.